Recently a radio presenter caught my attention while he interviewed a member of the public who was presenting personal prejudicial arguments to rid Christmas of religious allusion. The case he presented was advocating the removal of all religiously associated insignia from Christmas festivities, principally excluding any mention of Jesus Christ. As the gentleman continued his predisposition to this bias, my mind wandered to focus on the greatest gift ever offered to humanity; the gift of Jesus Christ! Nonetheless, my heart grieved for this soul destined for eternal damnation if he should persist with this viewpoint until his own appointment with destiny.

By definition, Christmas is the day identified to commemorate the birth of Jesus Christ. To classify a particular day to honour a person because of their eminence or noteworthy achievement whilst proclaiming that any mention of them is forbidden (and still have the audacity to celebrate the occasion) seems somewhat hypocritical. Without entering disputations about the accuracy of the dating set to commemorate the birth of Jesus [leaving that to the scholars and theologians]; we identify with this nominated date to celebrate that Jesus Christ was, in point of fact, born. The [Gregorian] calendar is also internationally accepted as the most widely used representation of the historical events that evidence Christ’s existence on earth in bodily form.

Contrary to the widely held opinion of those less informed, Christianity is not a religion, but in fact the establishing of a covenant agreement between God and an individual; legitimized by the regenerating of the human spirit. This operation is a function performed by the Holy Spirit that reconnects the spirit of a man to the Spirit of God. This takes place when a person identifies his need for a Saviour and actively responds to this inner conviction; a process described in the bible as being ‘born again’. This identification causes the individual to become unified with God (hence two of the many titles used for Jesus Christ in the bible are ‘The Branch’ [Zechariah 3:8; 6:12] and ‘The Vine’ [John 15].

We become acutely aware of the heartbreak associated with personal loss when we see a parent’s anguish at the loss of a child. We have watched as the media chronicled the tragic events and heart-rending emotions experienced by parents; such as the McCann’s [parents of missing three-year-old Madeline McCann], as they walk this untenable path of life. As we witness such parents in relentless pursuit of one treasured child, we can begin to understand the ‘heart of the father’. Likewise, born under sin, humanity was lost to God the Father; whose heart was to reconnect with His precious children. However, to do so would cost God everything He cherished; His Only-Begotten Son. Why? Because God loved us and could not bear to imagine life without us!

Jesus left the salubrious comforts of heaven and took upon Himself the form of a man to pay the ransom price for the lost and confused descendants of Adam to offer an Anchor Point for their soul and legal way of reconciliation. This was not a frivolous deed; in the Garden of Gethsemane we know that Jesus, sweating droplets of blood cried out in anguish to the Father for another way if it were possible. Nevertheless, obediently Jesus walked into the hands of the enemy who would torture and murder Him.

Why was this particular course of action necessary? God is a God of justice and sin required the mandatory sentence of the death penalty. Jesus became our substitute, opening the prison doors to freedom; however we must each individually accept this gracious gift by identifying personally with Jesus as the source of our salvation. When we come before Him recognizing this overwhelming act of grace and see the ‘Person’ of Jesus Christ; a man prepared to die in our place for the sake of this union, then we become joined to Him and are unified and restored as one with Him. This is the man who made Christmas possible and gave cause for celebration. Let us therefore take a stand to keep Christ in Christmas!

PRAYER

If you should decide to commit to turn your life around by accepting Jesus, then this is a sample prayer which you can say …then today is the day of salvation

Lord God, I acknowledge that I am a sinner, and I ask You to forgive me my sins and the life that I have lived and cleanse me by Your precious blood shed to make this possible.

I believe that Your only begotten Son Jesus Christ shed His precious blood on the cross at Calvary and died for my sins, and I am now willing to turn from my sin to follow You and the path you have planned for my life.

You said in Your Holy Word (Romans 10:9), that if we confess the Lord our God and believe in our hearts that God raised Jesus from the dead, then we shall be saved.

Right now I confess Jesus as the Lord of my life. With my heart, I believe that God raised Jesus from the dead. This very moment I accept Jesus Christ as my own personal Saviour and according to His Word, right now I accept this precious gift of salvation;  to know that from this day forward I am saved and according to Your Word I have been made a new creation (2 Cor 5:17).

I thank you Jesus for becoming a man to walk with us and die as a ransom for my soul, thank You for saving me and I accept this gift of eternal life. I acknowledge you as my Lord and ask You Lord Jesus to transform my life by Your Spirit so that I may bring glory and honour to you alone and not to myself.

Amen.